Kashmir Hill: This privacy reporter and her husband bought a Chevrolet Bolt in December. Two risk-profiling companies had been getting detailed data about their driving ever since. read more
After he spent much of the last year of his presidency trying to ban TikTok, Donald Trump's abrupt effort to defend the Chinese-owned app late last week caught many in Washington by surprise. But for people who've been watching Trump's TikTok policies closely, it was part of a pattern: Changing course when an interested billionaire donor was in the mix.
Chipotle says its employees can choose chicken once again. Last week, the chain asked its U.S. and Canadian employees to temporarily select another protein for their work meals to preserve the company's supply of chicken. read more
There's a new Linux distro on the scene today, and it's a bit specialized. Its development was led by the automotive electronics supplier Elektrobit, and it's the first open source OS that complies with the automotive industry's functional safety requirements.
The Onion has sold to a new Chicago-based firm called Global Tetrahedron, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller announced Thursday, TheWrap has learned. read more
... Boeing's new spaceship has been cleared for its first-ever crewed liftoff. ...
Boeing says it will cut SLS workforce "due to external factors"
arstechnica.com
... On Thursday senior Boeing officials leading the Space Launch System program, including David Dutcher and Steve Snell, convened an all-hands meeting for the more than 1,000 employees who work on the rocket.
According to two people familiar with the meeting, the officials announced that there would be a significant number of layoffs and reassignments of people working on the program. They offered a handful of reasons for the cuts, including the fact that timelines for NASA's Artemis lunar missions that will use the SLS rocket are slipping to the right.
Later on Thursday, in a statement provided to Ars, a Boeing spokesperson confirmed the cuts: "Due to external factors unrelated to our program performance, Boeing is reviewing and adjusting current staffing levels on the Space Launch System program." ...
Southwest Airlines is ending service at four airports and laying off 2,000 employees
nashvillenow.us
... American Airlines and Southwest Airlines both lost money in the first quarter, and Southwest said Thursday it will curtail hiring and close operations at four airports.[emphasis mine]
Southwest expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than at the beginning of the year.
Airlines are facing higher labor costs and delays in getting new planes from Boeing, limiting their ability to add more flights at a time of high travel demand. ...
Boeing's problems can't stop, won't stop (March 2024)
www.morningbrew.com
... Boeing has tapered its production of 737 planes while it gets its stuff together, leaving airlines with fewer aircraft.
Even with a slew of safety incidents that make Snakes on a Plane look tolerable and a host of airlines cutting capacity due to a lack of planes, the worst of Boeing's problems may still be ahead of it. ...
Southwest got the worst of it: The airline notorious for not being bookable on Google Flights exclusively flies Boeing 737 planes. Southwest said it planned to receive 58 of Boeing's 737 Max 8 planes but now expects just 46, and won't get any of the long-awaited Max 7 jets. As a result, it cut flight capacity plans and changed its financial outlook for the year.
Other shake-ups in the industry include ... United Airlines putting a pause on hiring pilots, Alaska Airlines saying its capacity for the year is in flux, and Ryanair lowering its passenger forecast"all because Boeing can't deliver planes. It's good news for Airbus, Boeing's biggest rival, which delivered 49 planes in February compared to Boeing's 27. ...
@#3 ... told not to add chicken to their personal meals to preserve the supply for customers, according to Bloomberg. ...
Chipotle Tells Staff to Skip Eating Chicken, Then Relents
finance.yahoo.com
... Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. told its employees last week not to include chicken in their own meals, as surging customer demand crimped supply -- but the chain now says its workers can go back to ordering freely. ...
Store managers were told not to order their free or discounted employee meals with chicken or chicken al pastor, and to ask their team members to do the same. The email also instructed white-collar staff at Chipotle offices that they "should not" order chicken for themselves and said the popular option wouldn't be included in their free Monday lunches. ...
OK, this looks like there may be more to this...
Chipotle reverses policy, says workers can order chicken again
www.newsnationnow.com
... Popular burrito and bowl chain Chipotle has reversed course and says employees can now order chicken once again after Bloomberg reported that workers had been told to skip the protein amid surging customer demand.
In a company email sent to employees last week, workers were told not to add chicken to their personal meals to preserve the supply for customers, according to Bloomberg.
Store managers were reportedly told not to order their work meals with chicken or Chicken al Pastor and to ask other staff to do the same. ...
Then there's this...
Trump Tells 'Young People' to Blame Biden if TikTok Gets Banned
www.newsweek.com
Quite the about-face on fmr Pres Trump's part (especially after he seemed to meet with a donor).
But, aside from the usual two-faced aspect of fmr Pres Trump, the reason I posted it as to highlight how the campaigns are looking for the youth vote.
... according to a survey published Wednesday. ...
As I have noted a few times in the past...
At this point, it is not about any individual poll, but the trend.
That said, the current Electoral Collge trend does not look good for Pres Biden...
www.realclearpolling.com
imo ...
This is not A Good Thing.
Another view...
You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000
arstechnica.com
... If you've been wondering when you'll be able to order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer, that day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame bills as "the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog" is now available for purchase. The price? $9,420.
Thermonator is a quadruped robot with an ARC flamethrower mounted to its back, fueled by gasoline or napalm. It features a one-hour battery, a 30-foot flame-throwing range, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote control through a smartphone.
It also includes a LIDAR sensor for mapping and obstacle avoidance, laser sighting, and first-person view (FPV) navigation through an onboard camera. The product appears to integrate a version of the Unitree Go2 robot quadruped that retails alone for $1,600 in its base configuration. ...
Oh, this will not end up in a happy place.
To be honest, when I first saw this story, I thought it was an Onion parody, based upon the name of the receiving company.
Further words are absent for me.